Hunter first suggested the idea of Ward facing Joshua and believes his man has the attributes to outbox the British knockout specialist.

Ward would also not be the first fighter to make the leap, with the legendary Roy Jones Jr having moved up from the light-heavyweight division in 2003 to defeat John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title.

"Fighting a bigger man doesn't have to do with size, it has to do with your attributes and their attributes," Hunter said.

"If you are able to single out one thing that makes it a competitive fight for yourself, you take that chance.

Highlights as the American took his unbeaten record to 32-0 with victory over Kovalev

Highlights as the American took his unbeaten record to 32-0 with victory over Kovalev

"I'd like to see him fight Anthony Joshua. I'm not playing, I'm serious. I think it would be a very interesting fight. I believe he could outbox Anthony Joshua.

"There's some things about Joshua that I see. He's a good kid, I know him, but I see things with him in particular and he is the best [of the heavyweight champions], but styles make fights.

"It would be a waste of time to go to the cruiserweights, we should just leapfrog it, go for it all."